Microsoft Surface RT VS iPad 3: Another Cruel War in the Tablet Maket

The Surface RT of Microsoft is no doubt released to compete directly with the king of tablets, the Apple iPad 3, especially at the price point. While the Apple iPad dominates most of the sales in the tablet market and iPad 3 is a high and strong wall other tablets can’t overstep, the Microsoft Surface is given all hopes and grabbing most of the spotlight right now.

Besides, the rumored iPad Mini would be also released sooner next week, but it would be going to fight with the Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7 at the middle and low end of tablet market. So if you want a high-end tablet and are ready to pay about $499 or above, Microsoft Surface RT and iPad 3 would be ideal choice!

However, can the Microsoft Surface RT draw your attention away from iPad 3? Let’s check and compare the details of both tablets.

Price:

Price is the first and important key factor that determines any tablets' future maket sale! The price of Surface with Windows RT, 32 GB (no keyboard cover) is $499. This 32GB version of the Surface with Windows RT is also available for $599 bundled with a black Touch Cover, and a 64GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover is priced at $699. The Apple iPad, on the other hand, is available in a smaller 16GB capacity for $499, a larger 64GB model for $699, and all three capacities have configurations with 4G mobile data (16GB for $629, 32GB for $729, and 64GB for $829).

Based on the above information, it is hard to determine which owns better cost performance. The prices of them are so close and the difference about $100 will depend on those different accessorial specs.

Display:

The 10.6-inch screen of Microsoft Surface is slightly larger than the iPad's 9.7 inch one. The former is only able to display images at a 1280x720 resolution and is only able to pack in 139 pixels per inch. However, as we all know, the iPad has a 2048x1536 resolution and packs in 264 pixels per inch and is able to show images with better detail and sharpness. Of course, we can’t ignore that the Surface features with its ClearType HD Display and brand-new colorful user interface which will lure a lot of people numbed to the iOS and Android interface.

The Surface offers 720p cameras both front and back, while the iPad offers a better rear-facing camera (1080p) but lower-res front-facing camera (VGA only), meaning that the Surface will offer better video in face-to-face chat, but not the full HD video shooting of the iPad.

So if you care about sharpness more than other features, you can choose the iPad 3, and if you want different user experience, why not turning to the Microsoft Surface?

Operating System:

The Microsoft Surface runs on Windows 8, which is the latest flagship operating system of Microsoft and has powerful touch controls in addition to traditional mouse and keyboard options.

The Apple iPad 3 runs on the newest version of Apple's mobile operating system iOS 6, which is packed with more than 200 new features. We can get many comments from friends about how perfect the iOS6 is, such as Siri, iTunes and more.

To compete with the Apple App Store, Microsoft will also be vamping up the Windows Store. But the fact is that Apple App Store has greatest amount of apps. in addition, another advantage of Microsoft Surface is that users can enjoy its family services like famous and latest Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 RT Preview1 (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote); Windows Mail and Messaging; SkyDrive; and Internet Explorer 10.

Other key Specs:

The Microsoft Surface is equipped with a powerful NVIDIA processor, 1.4GHz T30 Tegra 3 quad-core processor. And it also has 2GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage with an expandable memory slot.

The Apple iPad 3 runs on a proprietary Apple A5X dual-core processor. The Apple A5X runs at 1.0GHz and is paired with a quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 graphics processor. The tablet also has 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage with no expandable memory slot.

Finally, for those who want greater flexibility, a better price, and maybe wish their tablet could be a new experience, the Surface with Windows RT is certainly what they've been waiting for. But for those who prefer to pay money for Apple's highly polished iPad experience and Apple store, they will head to iPad 3.